Mudslides are not new in Kibera, we have had several cases and some still continue to happen not just in Kibera but throughout the country, but what we always fail to understand is that no one always seems to learn a lesson from the previous pandemics,

In October 2010, KNN did a story of a Man who lost his life along the railway line after mud slid to cover him and his house. http://youtu.be/RgNgUboKUhQ

We have had several cases there after but walking around Kibera, one is still able to see the large number of houses still at risk, with their occupants oblivious of the situation they are in.

While walking with Joe Gathecha, a fellow Kibera News Network member, we came across a house that had been carried away after a mudslide, but what caught our attention was the still occupied next door.

“I’m just waiting for my house to fall too, I don’t have anywhere else to go to, our Landlord has also refused to repair the houses for us,”

“Don’t you think the house will fall on you someday, may be at night and leave you with injuries?” Joe asks her.

“ but where can I go now? What can I do? Do you want to help me? Go ahead then… get me a house and I’ll move.” She tells Joe.

This and so many other unreported cases just exposes the risk that many Kibera residents face, most of who blame it on local leaders reluctance to take action and have them secure. But who exactly is to blame, especially after the time bombs have exploded and we have casualties.

“ Most of these residents don’t pay house rents as required, so the house owners are reluctant to renovate the houses for them, they just let it be in the hope the dangers and risks will drive the occupants away, or the incidents, that is when they finally occur.” Says one such house owner when we interviewed Him.

As we covered this story, we could see many other houses standing at a very risky places, it is only a matter of time before they all come tumbling down. but who exactly is to blame?

Perhaps the government should come in and forcefully evict them from danger prone areas.

– Steve Banner

Originally published at: http://stevebanner32.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/living-with-the-risk-of-mudslide-in-kibera/